RSA Europe 2012: Web applications are the weakest point of the internet, says Qualys

WEB APPLICATIONS are the weakest point of the internet according to cloud security provider Qualys, which said that security threats in this area are likely to remain the weakest point for a long time.

Speaking at the RSA conference in London today, Qualys' chairman Philippe Courtot said that the problem with web applications is that "they are essentially done by humans, and they are going to be done by humans for a long time and by many different people".

He explained that the speed at which we deliver web applications is extremely fast, so that every four weeks there is new code delivered.

Courtot believes that this speed itself creates a problem because the main problem is that engineers aren't willing to spend time writing code for web applications' firewalls and fixing vulnerabilities, and this is the significant challenge at the moment.

"We need to look at the issue of remediation but it's very difficult," Courtot said. "You will not find any good engineers interested in fixing them as they think it's a wasted talent.

"I think there's a need for new tools to remediate these applications and create a new generation of people who have unique engineering skills but also are passionate about making sure code is well written in fighting vulnerabilities." µ